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Up close and personal with Atif Aslam
Nazmus Saquib
Atif Aslam exploded onto the music scene in 2004 with his smash hit
‘Aadat’ from his album Jal Pari. Later in 2006, he proved that he wasn’t
just a one-hit wonder when ‘Doorie’, shot up to No.1 on numerous
charts. Transforming him from a rock icon to a solo superstar with his
back to back albums, he went on to carve his niche in bollywood which
many other singers would have only dreamt. The crooner visited Dhaka to
perform at a concert organised by Nokia at Bangabandhu International
conference centre on July 30. In an exclusive interview, Atif shared how
he made it to this stardom.
‘Well, I started singing at the age
of 16, but never thought about music as a profession. I always wanted to
be a cricketer. But my father for some reason didn’t agree to it, but
fortunately whatever happened, it was for the best. I was a part of the
band ‘Jal’ and later I had to go solo because of some internal disputes.
My solo albums were huge hits both in Pakistan and India. I wanted to
explore myself in every single dimension of music,’ said the young
artiste.
While Atif has huge fans from all over the sub-continent,
he had to face criticism for his singing style as well. ‘Throughout my
journey, some people from the music fraternity criticized me. I’m facing
this criticism till date. But I am quite used to it now. On a positive
note, I am happy that my fans are always showering their blessings on
me,’ Atif politely dismisses the criticisms. Indeed, he does not need to
answer this directly as the numerous awards at home and abroad speaks
as the recognition for his hard work. He also shared stage with some of
the renowned musicians and performed at the Heineken Music Hall where
legends like Michael Jacksom performed.
The singer is currently
busy with a new project with the famous band Guns N’ Roses. Atif sees
this project rather in a wider context, ‘My country Pakistan is known as
a terrorist country. But it is not true. Thorough this project, I hope
the message will reach across the world and change this perception.’
Atif
has performed three times in Bangladesh, about the crowd during his
concerts here; he admits that Dhaka is one of his favourite cities.
‘The
city is amazing and it relaxes me to a great extent. Apart from the
horrible traffic jams of Dhaka, the city is great to explore for the
enthusiastic. The women in saree look, gracious and lovely here. The
people are also very hospitable,’ Atif sounds enthusiast.
Atif’s
female fans outnumber the male fans and are just crazy about him. When
asked about it, Atif gets notorious, ‘You people are always saying like
this but do not really provide me any information to reach them! On a
serious note, I will be glad if they go crazy about my work instead.’
for his fans, Atif also provided the address of his website,
www.aadeez.com.
As for the Bangladeshi fans, Atif assured to come
back here over and over again and hoped to perform in an open air
concert some day. This time, the organizer Signal Events deserves all
the praise for arranging the concert.
The writer is a freelance
contributor.
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